MULLENIX: EIGHTH CRANIAL NERVE. 229 
body, which contains a central nucleus, with one or two nucleoli. 
They state that processes always extend from the body of the cell in 
the form of fibres, which may frequently be followed for a considerable 
distance toward the free surface of the epithelium, and that they some- 
times contain a clear supporting fibre. ‘These outward extending 
processes of the basal cells are represented as meeting the apices of the 
triangular projections which penetrate inward between the sense cells 
from the limiting membrane, and blending with them to form a homo- 
geneous mass; a condition which leads the writers to regard these 
structures as a kind of intercellular substance produced by the Faden- 
zellen. 
Inasmuch as the general histology of the ear lies somewhat outside 
the scope of my problem, I have devoted only such attention to it as 
has been indispensable to an understanding of the modes of nerve 
terminations. The methods which I have employed are not well 
adapted to the study of the non-nervous histological elements, and 
consequently my material does not furnish conclusive evidence con- 
cerning the matter under discussion. None of my preparations 
furnish any evidence for the existence of any cells in the auditory 
epithelium other than the basal cells and the sense cells, though it is 
not uncommon to find nuclei amongst the axis cylinders in the so-called 
inter-epithelial plexus. ‘These nuclei, however, I believe to represent 
basal cells. Neither have I been able to see any processes from the 
basal cells extending into the spaces between the sense cells. 
I have many preparations which clearly show the cuticula, or limit- 
ing membrane, separating the ends of the sense cells from the lumen 
of the ear. In some cases this appears’to be entirely distinct from the 
epithelium, as in Figures 16 (Plate 3), 18, 26 (Plate 4) 28, 33, 36 (Plate 
5) 41, 43 (Plate 6). In other material it is evident that there are 
processes extending from this cuticula into the midst of the sense cells 
(Figs. 38, 40, Plate 5; 42, Plate 6), ina manner not unlike that described 
by Bielschowsky und Briihl. In sections parallel to the surface these 
processes show well. In no case have I been able to find nuclei in 
this intercellular material. It often presents the appearance of being 
continuous with the cuticula, as shown in Figure 39 (Plate 5). In 
Figure 45 (Plate 6) material is represented in which the cytoplasm 
of the sense cells was much shrunken, leaving considerable space 
between it and the cell membranes, which remain in contact with the 
intercellular substance. Figure 39 (Plate 5) represents a section cut 
diagonally to the principal axes of the sense cells, and hence the dif- 
ferent layers of the macula are represented here. 
